The present invention relates to a sheet discharge apparatus to stack sheets with images thereon discharged from an image forming apparatus, such as a copier or printer, and an image forming apparatus with this sheet discharge apparatus, a sheet finishing apparatus that performs finishing process to stacked bundles of sheets and an image forming apparatus with this sheet finishing apparatus.
In an apparatus that stacks sheets with images formed thereon by using an image forming apparatus, such as a copier or printer, a discharge angle in discharging the sheet on a sheet stacking tray or sheet bundles on the tray may be adjusted upward to prevent disarrayed stacking of the sheet caused by a leading edge of a discharged sheet colliding against a precedent sheet, or prevent the leading edge of the sheet from bending caused by a collision against the tray. Such an apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) H5-33899.
However, although the conventional apparatus disclosed therein solves the problem of disarrayed stacking of the sheet bundles in the tray, a discharged sheet tends to glide too far due to the upward discharge angle, resulting in disarrayed stacking of subsequent sheets in a transport direction.
Thus, in view of the situations described above, an object of the instant invention is to provide a sheet discharge apparatus to alleviate the above defects and improve an alignment of the sheet stacking.
In order to attain the above objectives, the sheet discharge apparatus of the present invention is equipped with sheet storage means for receiving sheets; discharge means for discharging the sheets transported from an image forming apparatus to the aforementioned sheet storage means; a reference member for aligning one edge of the sheet discharged to the aforementioned tray; transport means for transporting the aforementioned discharge means between a first position for the discharge means to discharge the sheets to the tray and a second position for the discharge means to direct the sheet dicharged on the tray against the aforementioned reference member; and control means for controlling the transport means.
In order to attain the above objectives, the sheet discharge apparatus of the present invention is equipped with sheet storage means for receiving sheets; finishing means for finishing the sheets discharged on the tray; transport means for transporting the aforementioned discharge means between a first position for the discharge means to discharge the sheets to the tray and a second position for the finishing means to finish the sheets discharged on the tray; and control means for controlling the transport means.
The other objectives and features of the invention will be made clear by a detailed description below, according to the accompanying drawings.